Futurama Returns

riflemann writes "Another 26 episodes of Futurama will shortly go into production! This news comes from none other than Billy West (voice of Fry) himself, in a short post to his own message board. No further details are available, except that it's likely to be on TV, not straight to DVD." The best news is that means fresh quotes for slashteam to hide in the source code.

Comments

Futurama returns

[thrillseeker]

Well, bite my shiny metal ass.

Re:Futurama returns

[perp]

Good news, everyone!

Re:Futurama returns

[roman_mir]

is it a suppository?

Re:Futurama returns

[Anonymous Coward]

The elders tell of a young ball much like you. He bounced three meters in the air, then he bounced 1.8 meters in the air, then, he bounced 4 meters in the air. Do I make myself clear?

Re:Futurama returns

[frodo from middle ea]

Now If we can hit this bullseye, all the dominos will fall like a house of cards...checkmate!

Re:Futurama returns

[Darwin_Frog]

Oh my, yes.

Re:Futurama returns

[luna69]

Good news?

This is the equivalent of [insert something at once infuriating and irrelevant here].

This is about as cool as "Socially retarded software engineer developes method for using slivers of wood to pick food from space between teeth."

Will my karma suffer because fanboys will mod this down as a troll?
Yes.
Am I posting as AC?
No.

Re:Futurama returns

[koweja]

Well, aren't you just a badass internet rebel. It takes a lot of balls to risk a numeric value in order to piss of a bunch of people you don't know and will never meet.

Face it, you're still anonymous, and if you think that you're somehow brave for insulting people on a forum, you're also a coward.

Re:Futurama returns

[JeanPaulBob]

Psst. No one actually cares.

Re:Futurama returns

[Anonymous Coward]

This news is worthy of being chronicled in an anthem by Rush.

Re:Futurama returns

[Anonymous Coward]

lol u r a fag

Re:Futurama returns

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, well... I'm gonna go build my own series, with blackjack and hookers. In fact, forget the series!

Re:Futurama returns

[Shaklee39]

Futurama is about as funny as penny arcade. In other words, it isn't funny at all.

Re:Futurama returns

[Anonymous Coward]

Awesome. Awesome to the max.
- That Guy

Re:Futurama returns

[JeanPaulBob]

Crap, they did mod you down. Never mind. They do care.

Re:Futurama returns

[Pharmboy]

Please don't feed the trolls. It only encourages them.

Re:Futurama returns

[Lillesvin]

New eps! "I'm so excited I wish I could wet my pants!"

Btw, That Guy's name is Steve (or Steven) Castle, but it's never mentioned in the show itself - just in the commentary and the bonus material. ;-)

And once again, my sig is totally on-topic!

Re:Futurama returns

[ibbey]

So, can anyone guess who didn't get the joke?

Re:Futurama returns

[Tengoo]

Yes, stop asking!

Re:Futurama returns

[dynamo52]

Not so good after all

In another post on the blog, Billy West says:

Guys,
I'm sorry I gave inaccurate info on the cartoon.I was told on one end that the TV show was a go but DXC enlightened me (with a hammer) that this was not the case.I think there is a Futurama project as in DVD's but I appearently had bad info.But I do live to give good Futurama news to people.So I must've died or something.

All eyes on the skies,

Billy

Re:Futurama returns

[zerocool^]

What happened? Space cow?

Re:Futurama returns

[Orgazmus]

Our people tell the same story.

Re:Futurama returns

[MyShinyMetalAss]

Please dont...

Re:Futurama returns

[Anonymous Coward]

YHBT. YHL. HAND.

Whew!

[aychamo]

Whew! I thought they were coming back tally! Good thing it's shortly!

Re:Whew!

[Citizen of Earth]

Whew! I thought they were coming back tally! Good thing it's shortly!

Is "tally" some kind of Britishism or something? Even after they rebuild the factory and go into production, it will still take nine months for the first episode to roll off the assembly line. Animation is not like producing a reality series.

Re:Whew!

[frieko]

Anybody know, is this in addition to, or instead of the four movies West said were in the works?

Futuramas overrated

[Anonymous Coward]

CSI is funnier than this POS.

Only fat nerdly "comic book guy" types like this show. Ill bet its canceled within 3 weeks this time.

Re:Futuramas overrated

[Random Destruction]

CSI may be funnier, but not because they want to be.

damn that show is painful to watch.

Good news, everyone!

[ari_j]

I was going to have to make my own cartoon...with blackjack...and hookers.

Re:Good news, everyone!

[roman_mir]

and we'd be exactly where we've started, wouldn't we? :)

I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sorry, but due to the offensive crap pandering to the masses today, I have started boycotting television distributed by Fox. Could you please make these episodes available on BitTorrent? Thanks alot.

Re:I don't own a television

[A beautiful mind]

The Prison Break screener was great!

(and before someone asks, I enjoy downloading series legally and I consider it ethically positive!)

Re:I don't own a television

[RonnyJ]

I'm sorry, but due to the offensive crap pandering to the masses today, I have started boycotting television distributed by Fox.

The main way people can help to do something about the quality of TV is by actually watching/buying DVDs of the decent shows, but not watching the crap. The ratings are what is important to Fox, not the 'quality'.

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

"offensive crap pandering to the masses"? More like the most centrist reporting of all the major networks. If you want your news tainted with left with ideals, tune into CBS, NBC, CNN and, to a lesser extent, ABC. If you want some balanced views, try the BBC, NPR/PBS and FOX.

You left wing hippies make me sick. Just because a network offers news/views you don't agree with, you dismiss it as crap. Get with the program and listen to both sides of the story.

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

Could you please make these episodes available on BitTorrent?

Don't fret. BitMeTV will probably have them soon after release.

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

If you want some balanced views, try the BBC, NPR/PBS

BBC I can see, but NPR/PBS?! Have you missed some of the recent scandals? They get caught hiring/firing people based on their political party, and got caught wasting taxpayer money by paying people more than they were legally allowed to. NPR/PBS are probably more left-wing than the networks you listed as "tainted with leftist ideals!"

And, unlike the other networks which are private and you can therefore simply ignore, PBS/NPR both get funded by American tax dollars. So even if you want to refuse to support their radically liberal voices, you can't! Your money helps fund them anyway.

Re:I don't own a television

[chrismcdirty]

Sort of how you dismiss CBS, NBC, CNN and, to a lesser extent, ABC as crap because they don't cater to your agenda?

I like to view all news as propaganda. Usually get it from a few different sources, so I can get as close to the whole story as possible. Even though I dislike every news source I've come across, when you add them all together, you get an (almost) un-biased story.

Re:I don't own a television

[Traiklin]

then explain to me how Fox news is "Fair and balanced" when their own "Reporters" will interupt their "guests" when they are trying to explain their side?

I somehow managed to make it through one episode with these to jackasses who think they are the greatest thing to happen to news, they had an Atheiest on to explain why there are athiests. Every single time the man tried to explain it one of the wacko's would interupt him and belittle him, then when they finnaly shut up and he would start to explain it again the other would butt in.

at the end of the interview it was sad and pathetic, both of them thought they really one upped the guy and looked so smug and proud about what they had just done.

then there was another time I cought them, they were even WORSE that time then they were during the athiest "interview", at the end when they had clearly lost the debate they just came back and said "Well that's your opinion" but in a tone that was "Yeah, well fuck you asshole".

Fair and balanced my ass, it's either their way or no way and if you don't fallow their way they will get their "Friend" to kill you.

Re:I don't own a television

[Guppy06]

Now now, let us not forget that Fox themselves more or less boycotted Futurama.

Re:I don't own a television

[kalidasa]

Balanced views: BBC, NPR, PBS, and FOX.

The BBC: Mishal Husain. NPR: Carl Kassell. PSB: Jim Lehrer. FOX: Bill O'Reilly.

In the words of one of the great PBS productions, "one of these things is not like the others."

Re:I don't own a television

[despisethesun]

If only I had mod points. This is the funniest thing I've seen on Slashdot in a long time.

Re:I don't own a television

[Mercano]

Carl Kassell, of course. I mean, he's the only one you can get to record an answering machine message for you.

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

BBC and NPR are balanced wrong, they seem to have fallen on their left side

Re:I don't own a television

[LittleLebowskiUrbanA]

You can't spell, you're off-topic, and ruining the otherwise funny and positive commentary about the best news I've seen in a long time. Go bitch about FoxNews somewhere else and tremble before a real newscaster-Morbo the News Monster and his mighty jaws!

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks. Do they have RSS feeds? I like it when my TV shows download themselves automatically.

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.bitmetv.org/getrss.php. Scroll down for the Futurama box.

Re:I don't own a television

[FuzzyBad-Mofo]

You seem to have drunk the kool-aid. Here's a little chart to illustrate the facts. Mainstream media in the US is not "leftist," in fact it's a little to the right. However, Fox News and it's ilk are so far to the right they make centrist seem leftist.

L..............R
........1.......
.............. 2.

1 = Mainstream media 2 = Fox news

That said, I welcome our returning Futurama overlords.

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry, that takes me to a login screen. I don't use web sites that require me to surrender my privacy.

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

This is incorrect. Mainstream media in the US is *stupid*, not left/centrist/right.

Re:I don't own a television

[scottv67]

Registering for a new account on BitMeTV seems to be un-possible at this moment:

Open sign-up limit (22,000) has been reached. Invites only. If you are lucky you might have a friend who wants to invite you :) We just wanna see how much cheaters will start respecting their accounts after they realize they cant just come back in a get another one >:). Keep this in mind if you are already a member and you invite a known cheater, and you knew about it in the first place both yours and the person you invited are disabled. You will have to come talk to us to get your account reenstated. If you want an invite and you know someone who has one its up to them to give you an invite.

Re:I don't own a television

[Wrathernaut]

As Bender (Staying on topic) would say: Wrong. How many scandals have erupted based on "biased" reporting on Fox? Now count how many happened during the elections by "Mainstream media" as you put it? Dan Rather anyone? That said, I am writing this from Iraq. I work intel at the multi-national corps level. The only station that comes close to reporting what's going on over here accurately is Fox. It's still pathetic liberal bias in the media does to the news.

Re:I don't own a television

[Citizen of Earth]

Balanced views: BBC, NPR, PBS, and FOX.

These views are only "balanced" if you puree them all together. The first three are lopsided to the left.

Re:I don't own a television

[senor_burt]

I dunno. It depends on what you refer to as mainstream media. The New York Time's Judy Miller, as a shill for the Bush admin's ill-advised war, Washington Post stories and editorials straight from the admin mouthpieces, Sunday AM talk shows on ALL channels devoid of any balance....

I'd say

L..............R
.,.,.,.,.,.,1
.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.2
.,.,.,.,3
.,.,.,.,4
.,.5

1 = Mainstream media 2 = Fox news
3 = BBC
4 = CBC
5 = Half-way decent blogs, like Americablog, Eschaton, and DailyKos

Whereby... as far as factual accuracy we have...

Fact.....Fiction
.,.,.,.,.,.1
.,.,.,.,.,.,.,2
.,3
.,.4
.,5

1 = Mainstream media 2 = Fox news
3 = BBC
4 = CBC
5 = Half-way decent blogs, like Americablog, Eschaton, and DailyKos

That's why these days, I scarcely watch CNN, never watch Fox (except via Media Matters For America or CrooksAndLiars, for educational purposes), and spend most of my time fact-checking the blogs via the Beeb and CBC. And it's particularly pathetic that one of the best sources for news is The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.

Mainstream corporate-owned American media outlets are just tools of the powers that be. And sad to say, it's all about horse races and who is loudest, with the nastiest put-downs and distorted "facts", to determine the winner of a debate. It has NOTHING to do with accuracy, fact, and informed opinion.

I tend to feel that the "Left" side of the equation offers far more reality-based views than the "Right" side of the equation. The rest of the western world, however, wonders in amazement at how Americans have managed to distill the entire political spectrum down to two polar alternatives (which really aren't that far apart to begin with).

And yeah, off-topic. I'm glad shows like Futurama come back - their viewpoints are often pretty temporal, and balanced.

Re:I don't own a television

[elGrippe]

Actually, Bill O'Reilly isn't a news caster, he's an editorialist. Fox's editorials are definitely slanted to the right, though they do have a lot of left leaning editorialists as well, just not with their own shows. Their news journalists are quite balanced, eg. Brit Hume and Chris Wallace.

Re:I don't own a television

[metamatic]

They get caught hiring/firing people based on their political party...

Yes, ex Republican Party head Kenneth Tomlinson, placed in charge of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, hired a Republican specifically to monitor the political correctness of Bill Moyer's PBS show "Now".

Oh, how left wing!

Re:I don't own a television

[kb7oeb]

BBC has a $200 a year tax on every tv, and the recent "scandals" at the CPB were by a republican.

Re:I don't own a television

[dangitman]

NPR/PBS are probably more left-wing than the networks you listed as "tainted with leftist ideals!"

What a load of crap. In actual fact, the most recent scandal was the guy who was hired to push right wing agendas at PBS/NPR, and to "investigate" the so called "liberal bias." Have you ever seen the Newshour with Jim Lehrer? That thing is almost purely conservative/right wing, and liberal views are marginalized.

Re:I don't own a television

[popeguilty]

And yet you use BitTorrent?

Re:I don't own a television

[kalidasa]

Like the true FOX new fan that you are, you seem to have missed the point. I was responding to someone who compared those four as the only "centrist" newscasts. As far as the BBC, NPR, and PBS being lopsided to the left, well, if you're lying on your right side, I'm sure they seem that way. . .

Re:I don't own a television

[mqduck]

It all depends on what you consider to be the center. If you're a leftist who sees the US as the champion of the right, they all seem far right. Maybe if you were a fascist you'd say FOX News is a little too liberal.

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

Lookamee, feeding a troll.

In any case, there's a great deal of more or less explicitly right-of-center news out there that is actually news - The Economist, US News and World Report, the Wall Street Journal.

Fox News is not News, it's opinion. And shrill, bar-stool style argument at that. I'm pretty far-left wing, but I still appreciate that The Economist's columnists have thoughtful, logical editorials, right-wing (and wrong-headed IMHO) though they may be. Fox News, on the other hand, argues by name-calling, demonization, and glib emotional appeals. It's not honest, and it's CERTAINLY not news.

You left wing hippies make me sick.
But you right-wing trolls make me smile. Have a great day, and don't spend too much time being angry at us!

Re:I don't own a television

[Some Bitch]

BCC news tries to be as balanced as possible, I know of no other press organisation that would have reported the bombing of one of their own reporters by 'friendly' forces in quite the way John Simpson did.

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

You left wing hippies make me sick. Just because a network offers news/views you don't agree with, you dismiss it as crap. Get with the program and listen to both sides of the story.

Fuck you! Fox news is FULL OF SHIT and SO ARE YOU!

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

"offensive crap pandering to the masses"? More like the most centrist reporting of all the major networks. If you want your news tainted with left with ideals, tune into CBS, NBC, CNN and, to a lesser extent, ABC. If you want some balanced views, try the BBC, NPR/PBS and FOX.

I'm sorry, but didn't Fox News get SUED for out right LIES they broadcasted years ago? And if I remember correctly, the court ruled that while it is true that Fox New was broadcasting mis-information, it was found that they could legally still call them selves a "news network". The courts determined that it was the responsibility of the viewer to determine the realiability of news from this "news network".

So, basically the courts decided that Fox could be as slanted and mis-leading as they wanted to be and still call it news. This rulling was of course a great injustice! But the fact that Fox was legally proven to be a mis-leading news outlet in court is the main thing I am pointing out here. How DARE you suggest they are "fair and ballanced" when it was found in court that THEY ARE NOT!

You left wing hippies make me sick. Just because a network offers news/views you don't agree with, you dismiss it as crap. Get with the program and listen to both sides of the story.

I really hate how you right wing republican assholes lie out your ass all day long then have the nerve to call the rest of us with common sense "left wing hippies". I am not a hippie and I am not left wing, and I am certaintly not a dumbass republican fuck wad like your self! Your kind is what's wrong with this country!

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course. BitTorrent is about decentralising the media.

Re:I don't own a television

[Damek]

Oh yeah, Brit Hume's just a paragon of journalism.

In addition, can we stop pretending the news needs to be "balanced"? Not every issue or event has "sides" and when they do they often don't have equal merit.

Re:I don't own a television

[damsa]

Well the government funds BBC, PBS and NPR. Whereas Fox funds the government.

Re:I don't own a television

[Knightking]

So it takes three left slanted groups just to balance out Fox News?

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope you get your leg blown off.

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

Fox's editorials are definitely slanted to the right, though they do have a lot of left leaning editorialists as well

Yeah, they keep them in small cages and dress them in orange jumpsuits.

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

Re:I don't own a television (Score:0, Offtopic)

WTF?

How in the name of The Dred Pirate Roberts can my comment be "Offtopic"? I was replying to a parent post that mentioned the BitMeTV site. Are you going to mod all of the other posts about BitMeTV "Offtopic" as well?

Sheesh!

Re:I don't own a television

[Dachannien]

when their own "Reporters" will interupt their "guests"

Those people (O'Reilly, Hannity, Colmes, etc.) aren't reporters at all. They are commentators or hosts, hired for their commentary and/or hosting ability in much the same way that newspapers hire columnists. The fact is that the only (US) nationally-transmitted 24-hour cable news channel that actually reports news throughout most of the day is Headline News - most of the people you see there are anchors or reporters delivering news without commentary.

Re:I don't own a television

[Crunchie Frog]

In addition, can we stop pretending the news needs to be "balanced"? Not every issue or event has "sides" and when they do they often don't have equal merit.

You have got to be kidding. News that isn't balanced is propoganda. Why not just listen to a broadcast saying. "Be well citizens, everything is fine. sleep now... sleeeeppp"

Yes every issue has sides, often more than two. if it didnt have sides it wouldnt be an issue.

Re:I don't own a television

[SQL Error]

News that isn't balanced is propoganda.

Nope. News doesn't need balance. News needs accurate reporting.

Yes every issue has sides, often more than two. if it didnt have sides it wouldnt be an issue.

Who cares about "issues"? We can leave that to te editorials.

All the news needs to do is report the facts.

Re:I don't own a television

[poopdeville]

This is absurd. Using selective reporting or even just focus, any event can be described accurately and with a bias. For instance, consider the hypothetical:

A man, who happens steals food to feed his children, was caught shoplifting and was accidentally shot and killed by the police, who thought the candy bar in his hand was a gun.

One perspective: "Thief caught shoplifting was shot when police saw a gun."

And another perspective: "Police brutally slay father of three."

Both are accurate, but they paint very different pictures of what happened.

Re:I don't own a television

[Nasarius]

All the news needs to do is report the facts.

You're right. The problem is that the news has started to report the mere fact of any accusation (see Swift Boat Vets). The role of a good journalist is not merely to transcribe, but also to call bullshit when it's obvious, or at least provide appropriate context when Scott McClellan starts brazenly lying about what the President's opponents are saying. I think that's more or less what you were saying.

This AP piece is exactly what I'm talking about. It's insane to just uncritically report any politician's lies and distortions, or offer a rebuttal just from a political opponent. The facts are not a partisan issue.

Re:I don't own a television

[bckrispi]

The only station that comes close to reporting what's going on over here accurately is Fox.

Yeah. Geraldo's reporting was so accurate that it got him booted out of his unit. Broadcasting troop positions aside, how is Fox any more accurate than the other outlets?

Re:I don't own a television

[Mr2001]

You have got to be kidding. News that isn't balanced is propoganda. Why not just listen to a broadcast saying. "Be well citizens, everything is fine. sleep now... sleeeeppp"

We already have that, it's called Fox News. ;)

Yes every issue has sides, often more than two. if it didnt have sides it wouldnt be an issue.

Not every viewpoint deserves to be taken seriously, and in many cases, reporting both (or more) "sides" of an issue is inherently misleading. For example, if Think Tank X employs two crackpot scientists and puts out a press release saying the moon is made of green cheese, it would be poor journalism indeed to report the story as "Some scientists believe the moon is made of cheese; others disagree".

Yet in many cases, that's exactly what they do in the name of "balance", because some people have the idea that whenever there's a "pro" and "con" position to any issue, they need to give both sides exactly as much time and attention, regardless of how well-accepted those positions are in the real world or how well they match up with facts. They go out of their way to avoid making obvious judgements about sources and evidence, and as a result, audiences get a skewed view of reality.

Re:I don't own a television

[evilviper]

In addition, can we stop pretending the news needs to be "balanced"? Not every issue or event has "sides" and when they do they often don't have equal merit.

It's a sad, sad day when the cable news networks have people so confused that they think "balanced" means having TWO idiots yelling at each other, rather than one...

Balanced actually means giving the appropriate time and credit to the sides which deserve it, and overing equal criticism to both.

FOX just usurped that term because they didn't think "Guarding the henhouse" would make a good slogan...

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe you aren't aware of what boycott means. Choosing to watch it via another medium is NOT boycotting the show - it is you being an arse.

Cancel your cable subscription (or at least ensure that Fox isn't a subscribed channel), refuse to watch downloads of it, don't buy the videos / DVDs, don't rent them, turn over if Fox shows are on other stations, in other words: DON'T WATCH IT! Then you are free to come back and claim that you have boycotted Fox and their shows.

Personally I think that Fox do some damn fine programming.

I would gladly sell my house and all its contents for Fox.

I would cut off my leg and sell it to the Arabs to get money to buy DVDs of their shows.

(who are you? get off me! HELP! I'M BEING HELD PRISONER BY FOX EXECUT%$^"dD./,

#### No Carrier

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

It's rather on-topic in my opinion, some child has got hold of his daddies mod points. PUT THE MOD POINTS DOWN, HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD.

Re:I don't own a television

[Anonymous Coward]

That's not what Bender would say. Bender would be both funny and a dick. You're just a dick.

Re:I don't own a television

[NumerusSpy]

That's a strange link for a sig mate. What is it? some sort of comprehension masochism sort of thing? I hope it isn't there because you think that the conversation makes you look good.

Re:I don't own a television

[FuzzyBad-Mofo]

You are letting partisianship cloud your judgement. Dan Rather is your best example? I'm willing to concede that reporters in general are slightly biased to the left. However, let's not forget that the multinational corporations they work for have conservative positions. Dan Rather made a mistake and resigned because of it.

When will Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, or Bill O'Reilly admit to the lies they willfully spread on a daily basis?

Re:I don't own a television

[LittleLebowskiUrbanA]

I posted that link to show exactly how out there some people's idea of Americans are. WWIII will be between US Christians and Muslims? Gimme a break.

Re:I don't own a television

[NumerusSpy]

I think you missed my point. The whole conversation was just sad and pointless. I wasn't ripping on you.

Re:I don't own a television

[LittleLebowskiUrbanA]

I took your comment at its face value; you asked why I posted it. Troed and I have been arguing for a couple years and the only thing we agree on is the global warming myth.

Re:I don't own a television

[NumerusSpy]

No wuckers mate

Shouldn't the article title be more like...

[CMU_Ken]

"Back to the Futurama"?

Re:Shouldn't the article title be more like...

[ari_j]

Only if you're into cheap copyright infringement. ;)

Re:Shouldn't the article title be more like...

[Golias]

You know what would be really great? If these 26 new episodes were funny.

Because the episodes they made before were not funny, and I think making funny shows would be a great way to improve the series.

Re:Shouldn't the article title be more like...

[dave1212]

Fair enough. I found them laugh-out-loud funny, though I may be no more quick-witted than the average mouth-breather.

Re:Shouldn't the article title be more like...

[Pharmboy]

You know what is really cool? There are 500 other channels to watch if you don't like Futurama. No one petitioned to force others to watch Futurama, just to make more shows so those of us that want to, can.

If you think the show sucks, then why bother posting to this story? It adds nothing.

Re:Shouldn't the article title be more like...

[Golias]

Gosh, sorry for expressing an opinion. Here I was thinking it was a public forum. How foolish of me. I'll check with you before posting from now on, shall I?

Re:Shouldn't the article title be more like...

[Golias]

Fair enough. I found them laugh-out-loud funny, though I may be no more quick-witted than the average mouth-breather.

Don't run yourself down like that.

You laugh at a show that's not funny, that doesn't make you an idiot. Just easily amused. Nothing wrong with that.

Heck, some people don't understand why I think Azumanga Daioh is so goddamned funny, but I'm not about to apologize to them. You shouldn't either.

Re:Shouldn't the article title be more like...

[raider_red]

No.

Re:Shouldn't the article title be more like...

[Anonymous Coward]

Cry more.

Re:Shouldn't the article title be more like...

[Jarlsberg]

Yeah, it's like all those people who sees Futurama mentioned, and jump in to say how they do not like The Simpsons any more. Pathetic.

Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[Nicky G]

OK -- Family Guy is back, American Dad is getting pretty decent IMO. Futurama is returning.

PLEASE kill The Simpsons already. The longer it goes on, the darker the future is for all of us.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[Anonymous Coward]

Getting close...

They want to do 365 episodes before they finish the series. They are VERY close. The movie is already in the early stages of planning. You will get your wish fairly soon.

Even if the simpsons isnt as good as its earlier episodes, its still better then 95% of non-cartoon-network TV, it will be a shame to see it go.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[Gobelet]

From what I read on TV.com, they've made 369 episodes already.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[Anonymous Coward]

I remember watching the first airing of the episode of the simpsons where homer gets the helper monkey. I hated it and thought this surely has to be the end of the simpsons. Years later, I catch the episode in reruns and laugh my ass off. The problem with watching new episodes is that people are judging them against past episodes, expectations are too high and disappiontment is likely. I haven't watched a new episode of the simpsons since that monkey incident and I enjoy every episode I see in reruns because I am not busy trying to judge it but sitting back and enjoying it.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[toolo]

I think a lot of countries around the world including the UK and Australia dig on the Simpsons.

Whenever I travel, it seems the theme of the past few seasons consisting of ridiculing Americans and other cultures is more popular there. I do not know a single person that has watched it regularly in the past 5 years.

I think after Married with Children ended, Fox hasn't been able to find a suitable sitcom replacement... and its animated line-up just sits there taking up the slot.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"PLEASE kill The Simpsons already. The longer it goes on, the darker the future is for all of us."

Um, I don't care for the Simpsons either, but all you gotta do is change the channel. Dark future? Yeesh.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[moosesocks]

Agreed, but remember that Family Guy has gotten progressively worse as the seasaon's gone on, and it's pretty clear that American Dad is a show without any identity whatsoever.

American Dad was more or less McFarlane's response to the cancellation of Family guy, so he basically made something that was very very similar. Once Fox ordered another season of Family Guy, the producers of AD didn't know what to do, and the show subsequently sucked.

I can say with a good degree of certainty that Family Guy appeals to a much wider audience than American Dad....

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[Flower]

The Simpsons is still in production? OMG. I'm so sorry. I'll start upping my daily dose of TV immediately.

My future was already bright. Thanks Nicky.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[kiddygrinder]

Or you could, y'know, just not watch it.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[Nasarius]

It's a sad thing when a once-amazing TV show turns mediocre, and even sadder when they drag it on year after year. They killed off Buffy just in time, and they're ending The West Wing three seasons too late.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[ClamIAm]

American Dad was more or less McFarlane's response to the Presidency of George W. Bush

Fixed.

And yes, I agree that Family Guy has gotten much worse.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[ClamIAm]

The Simpsons is becoming the Garfield of animated TV.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[Night Goat]

The problem is, the more crappy episodes of the Simpsons that get made, the more likely the syndicated episode you plan to watch will be crap. Less new shows helps the odds that a good Simpsons gets aired in syndication. Seinfeld had it right, they quit when they were at their best. Hence, every time Seinfeld is on the air, it is guaranteed laughs.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[Cthefuture]

Ya, Simpsons not so great any more. It's sometimes OK but there have been more stinkers than good shows for many years. I would hate to see it go off though, as bad as some episodes are they are still better than 99% of TV that's on nowadays.

Family Guy? Meh, if you've seen one episode you've seen 'em all. It's a cookie cutter show and every episode is nearly identical. It's like South Park or other "shock shows", meh... infantile, boring, and pointless.

American Dad? Meh, I have only watched bits and pieces but it wasn't that great. It has no hook.

Futurama, like Firefly, was really good. I hope they come back with as strong a showing as the original episodes. I want more episodes were Fry kicks ass, those are my favorite (Parasites Lost, The Devil's Hands are Idle Play Things). And I love the Populous episode (Godfellas). It's definately a geek show though, there are way too many smart and obscure references for the general population.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[deetsay]

PLEASE kill The Simpsons already.

Or whatever it takes to make them stop singing.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[vistic]

Meh ! Meh ! Meh ! Meh !

Meh!

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[bulliver]

If you insist on following all your "meh"s with exclaimations you obviously don't fully understand what it means. Meh.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[MemoryDragon]

The funny thing is, because you mention married with children, this was the most british like sitcom ever being aired in the USA. If you watch the uk sitcoms you can find a lot of similar themed or similar humored sitcoms. Father Ted and (not the dreadful US version but the original) Coupling being probably some of the most recent examples of anarcho humored sitcoms. The main difference is, that those have a humor married with children only touched occasionally going on through, but not being worn out by endless episodes only a handful. Coupling in the US version was bound to fail, but the UK version is simply excellent.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[mgblst]

Simpsons - not liked it for years.

Family Guy - still really enjoy this show. Don't really know what you are talking about, every episode is very different (unless this changes with the newer episodes?)

Futurama - Couldn't really stand anything after the 2nd series. Just wasn't really that good. Nice idea, nicely drawn, but the stories were pretty week. Am I the only one who has this opinion? There was some great episodes, as the earlier quotes imply.

Some things just need to die (Simpsons), and somethings don't (Firefly). I am of the opinion the Futurama is in the latter category.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[poot_rootbeer]

PLEASE kill The Simpsons already. The longer it goes on, the darker the future is for all of us.

If you don't think it's worth watching anymore, just don't watch it.

Re:Now it's time to kill The Simpsons

[Anonymous Coward]

I just think you haven't really watched Futurama. I felt the same way, and I didn't even watch it that much when it aired, but I started watching the re-runs and was impressed. The second time around I was actually paying attention to the show and it was a lot more fun.

It's really coming back?

[scoser]

Crazy theories one, regular theories a billion!

HTTP headers

[RonnyJ]

The best news is that means fresh quotes for slashteam to hide in the source code.

Here's an example of one (hidden in the HTTP headers that /. returns):

X-Bender: Well I don't have anything else planned for today, let's get drunk!

Re:HTTP headers

[jZnat]

I was waiting for this article to go live so I could post that! :(

Slash has X-Fry and X-Bender headers it sends on every page (randomised). Press Ctrl+I to see that in Firefox, Konqueror, or pretty much any web browser.

Slashcode.com also uses those quotes in its random quote of the moment thinger at the bottom of the page.

Re:HTTP headers

[chrismcdirty]

How many of those are there? No wonder /. takes forever to load, with all that wasting of bandwidth...

Re:HTTP headers

[Anonymous Coward]

How many of those are there? No wonder /. takes forever to load, with all that wasting of bandwidth...

Slashdot gzips its pages so bandwidth usage is negligible at worst.

Re:HTTP headers

[cyranoVR]

Some more:

X-Fry: Please, Mr. Nixon! We're appealing to your sense of decency!

X-Fry: There's a lot about my face you don't know.

X-Fry: People said I was dumb but I proved them!

X-Fry: You mean Bender is the evil Bender? I'm shocked! Shocked! Well not that shocked.

X-Bender: Fry, of all the friends I've had ... you're the first.

X-Bender: Comedy's a dead art form. Now tragedy -- THAT'S funny.

X-Fry: Make up some feelings and tell her you have them.

Discovered these while playing with Firefox plugin LiveHttpHeaders. I, for one, am shocked and appalled that they are wasting our bandwidth in this manner!

Re:HTTP headers

[cyranoVR]

Some more I discovered a few weeks ago while playing with Firefox's LiveHttpHeaders plugin:

X-Fry: Please, Mr. Nixon! We're appealing to your sense of decency!

X-Fry: There's a lot about my face you don't know.

X-Fry: People said I was dumb but I proved them!

X-Fry: You mean Bender is the evil Bender? I'm shocked! Shocked! Well not that shocked.

X-Bender: Fry, of all the friends I've had ... you're the first.

X-Bender: Comedy's a dead art form. Now tragedy -- THAT'S funny.

X-Fry: Make up some feelings and tell her you have them.

I, for one, am appalled that they are wasting our bandwidth in this fashion!

Re:HTTP headers

[schon]

My fav:

"I'm not a machine, I don't like having disks crammed into me. Unless they're Oreos, and then only in the mouth."

Re:HTTP headers

[BigCheese]

I've always liked those. They would make a fine RFC. That way you could get rid of the X-. Now, they just have to get them written up and submitted to the IETF before the 1st of next month.

Re:HTTP headers

[wadetemp]

Headers aren't compressed.

Re:HTTP headers

[mrchaotica]

I, for one, am shocked and appalled that they are wasting our bandwidth in this manner!

Now just wait 'till you hear about Slashcode's bloated HTML!

Re:HTTP headers

[scottv67]

While the X-Fry and X-Bender quotes are nice, where are the X-Zoydberg zingers?

"What? My mother was a saint!"

Re:HTTP headers

[assassinator42]

You sure? I'm pretty sure firefox doesn't natively support viewing the headers. And I assume by Ctrl+I you mean Page Info, as it brings up bookmarks for some reason on Windows (probably because that's what IE does). That dialog only shows "Content-Type" under meta. Now, that would work if you installed this extension.

Re:HTTP headers

[jZnat]

I just remember that Firefox and Konqueror have a lot of the same keyboard shortcuts (C-W: close tab/window; C-T: new tab; C-U: view source; C-I: page information; C-F: bookmark; all the other standard C-X/C-C/C-V/C-Z/C-Y editting).

Re:HTTP headers

[dgatwood]

I kind of like:

X-Bender: Farewell, big blue ball of idiots!

Re:HTTP headers

[bigberk]

If you're running windows, there's a freeware program called popurl that will show you the HTTP headers for URLs you copy to the clipboard. You can see the X- headers in there

Re:HTTP headers

[Anonymous Coward]

Zoidberd, you pompous windbag!

Re:HTTP headers

[Drakanous]

X-Bender: I hate people who love me. And they hate me. Classic.

Re:HTTP headers

[cyranoVR]

Dear Moderators,

This double-post occured because of a bug in Slash. I have submitted it to sourceforge

Just thought you should know.

Re:HTTP headers

[Anonymous Coward]

Well if you have the Web Developer extension (http://chrispederick.com/work/webdeveloper/) for Firefox you can click the Information menu and click View Response Headers :)

X-Bender: Aw, this bends!
X-Bender: I am a hideous triumph of form and function.
X-Bender: Shooting DNA at each other to make babies. I find it offensive!

Re:HTTP headers

[jrockway]

Are you sure that, you know, you didn't hit submit twice?

Re:HTTP headers

[Xiaran]

"Hooray! People are paying attention to me!"

Re:HTTP headers

[cyranoVR]

Slashdot has long had a controls in place that a) prevent forms from being used twice, and b) prevent users from posting multiple comments in a short timespan. They had to do this to prevent "crapflooding." Hence, this has to be the result of a bug.

Futurama in Slashcode

[Anonymous Coward]

One of the Futurama references in Slashcode is that when the Slashdot server sends out a HTML header, it includes a Futurama quote in the form of an X-Bender, X-Leela, X-Fry etc. header.

Awesome news...

[Anonymous Coward]

After it's thickheaded cancellation so long ago.

Sure, it ain't perfect, and we can only hope that it doesn't go downhill like the Simpsons, and that depends on the writers they use for this new season - here's hoping they're the same or as good as the originals.

Yay!

[rmsmith]

I, for one, welcome our humorous animated futuristic overlords.

Good news Everyone!

[esconsult1]

26 episodes of... what's the name of the show again? Ah! Futurama!

Re:Good news Everyone!

[Guppy06]

It's a suppository!

Re:Good news everyone!

[CCFreak2K]

...many catch phrases from the show have caught on in American culture

It shows in your signature. ;)

Optimism?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's hard to imagine that this will go well. The show was already running out of steam when it was killed the first time (IMHO), and it has now been dead for quite some time. Unfortunately, I think we'll see episodes of quality similar to the resurrected Family Guy shows.

Some things should stay buried.

Re:Optimism?

[rob_squared]

"I think we'll see episodes of quality similar to the resurrected Family Guy shows."

That's definately a lofty goal. I've laughed at some of those episodes harder than I did for the ones in the first 3 seasons.

Re:Optimism?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"That's definately a lofty goal. I've laughed at some of those episodes harder than I did for the ones in the first 3 seasons."

Same. I'm surprised the FCC ep wasn't more popular around here.

and more gay hippies

[Anonymous Coward]

Gay Hippie: They called me crazy for building this ark. Old Hippie: You ARE crazy. You filled it with same sex animal couples. Gay Hippie: Hey, there are parts of the bible I like and parts I don't like.

More like line noise for dummies, amirite?

[Anonymous Coward]

The best news is that means fresh quotes for slashteam to hide in the source code.

So perl scripts are now called "source code"? Wouldn't that suggest that Perl is a real programming language? Let's not fool ourselves here.

Re:More like line noise for dummies, amirite?

[klang]

Perl is a Turing complete language. (go look up the implications and learn something)

html is a markup language (hence the ml part of the acronym) and does not have the features that give Turing completeness. i.e. not a programming language.

both html files and perl scripts could be refered to as source code (though not totally correct, but most people will know what you mean)

Re:More like line noise for dummies, amirite?

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot generates its HTML from perl scripts. You ever notice all the .pl in the links? For example, this form I'm typing in is comments.pl.

Re:More like line noise for dummies, amirite?

[klang]

Jesus Harold Christ this never ends..

I thought that "Nerds" had a basic understanding of programming .. I guess the bar has lowered over the past 8 years... to me, the distinction between a perl and html is fundamental. One is a Programming Language .. the other isn't .. and it matters.

Re:More like line noise for dummies, amirite?

[Anonymous Coward]

Stop trolling! The context of this whole discussion is about Taco linking the words "the source code" to his crappy perl scripts. Here's the context:

The best news is that means fresh quotes for slashteam to hide in the source code.

Did you see? He linked "the source code" to the Slashcode website. "Slashcode", "slashteam", "source code"; all these point to Taco's intent. That intent being that he was talking about his POS perl scripts. Now stop taking my posts out of context, troll.

Re:More like line noise for dummies, amirite?

[klang]

Oh, I made the Anonymous Coward mad .. I am surely going to hell...

OP claims, that perlscipts are not "source code" .. they are. "Source", because they are the source from which /. comes. "Code" because, like it or not, perl is a turing complete programming language (Anything you can do in perl, you can do in any other turing complete language.. with varying amounts of effort) html is NOT turing complete .. there are things you simply can not do, if you only have html.

Yes, Taco is refering to slashcode and slashteam .. since when have /. been unbiased? We are talking about a site that have Futurama quotes as part of the html headers .. 26 new episodes WILL give fresh quotes for the SOURCE CODE that delivers Slashdot .. so, what's the problem? ..troll? well, this post will be buried so deep, that nobody will ever see it. ah, well..

Re:More like line noise for dummies, amirite?

[Anonymous Coward]

OP claims, that perlscipts are not "source code" .. they are. "Source", because they are the source from which /. comes. "Code" because, like it or not, perl is a turing complete programming language (Anything you can do in perl, you can do in any other turing complete language.. with varying amounts of effort) html is NOT turing complete .. there are things you simply can not do, if you only have html.

I finally understand. You're mad because I made fun of your favorite language, perl. That's why you're trolling.

We are talking about a site that have Futurama quotes as part of the html headers

There's no such thing as HTML headers. You're thinking of HTTP headers. HTTP is not only used for HTML, but also Gnutella, Bittorrent, and other content.

26 new episodes WILL give fresh quotes for the SOURCE CODE that delivers Slashdot .. so, what's the problem?

Now you're getting it. See. It's not so bad to agree with a Slashdot AC. Sorry if I hurt your ego.

Re:More like line noise for dummies, amirite?

[Anonymous Coward]

I am now confident that at least a part of the AC collective understands the what a programming language is. I'll leave it at that.

There's no such thing as HTML headers.
my bad.

Two Down, One to Go...

[Xeth]

Futurama
Family Guy (Careful what you wish for...)
Firefly

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[endlessoul]

Futurama
Family Guy (Careful what you wish for...)
Firefly

You misspelled Farscape.

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Lord Bitman]

SciFi channel just got the rights to Firefly last week.

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Xeth]

Farscape at least had an ending. And I felt it went downhill sharply after the third season.

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[kalidasa]

I just hope to hell they do a Battlestar Galactica on it and not a Sliders.

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Scrameustache]

Farscape.

Not a Fox show.

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Anonymous Coward]

You misspelled Arrested Development

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Reverend528]

You misspelled VR.5

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Jim Haskell]

Did you see Serenity? I don't think a new Firefly series would be quite the same. (I'd still watch it, though.)

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Anonymous Coward]

Firefly, Farscape...

Both shitty shows. Good riddance.

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[SquadBoy]

Much as I wish this were true. They got broadcast rights for the current show in .uk. Just like they've had in .us for a long time now. But oh how I wish you were right.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds30578.html

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[jandrese]

That's the rub. When SciFi decides to redo a series, they seem to follow an inverse quality rule. The worse the original series, the better the scifi remake, and sadly, vice versa. There was talk of having them redo Manos: The Hands of Fate, but the resulting movie would probably be so good that it would be dangerous to watch.

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[powerlord]

Well ... on the plus side they seem to have gotten better about their handling of material since the Sliders fiasco (for the fans at least :) ).

They aquired Stargate when it was looking like it was going to wrap up in its 5th season (or was it 6th?), and its now going into its 10th? (and done rather decently including letter the characters grow and evolve).

They spun off Stargate Atlantis, and its now into its 2nd Season and looking forward to a 3rd.

Battlestar Gallactica is looking forward to a 3rd season as well, and getting rave reviews from critics, and some interesting re-imagining that I think most fans are appreciating, except for a few die-hards (Heck, my wife who isn't a big SciFi junky like I am has really gotten into the character driven stories of both SG:Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica! amazes the heck out of me).

Andromeda had already jumped the shark before Sci-Fi got hold of it (some would argue the same for Sliders), so I find it hard to blame them for the shows last season. Rather, I find it encouraging that they at least gave it a home for a last season, and an opportunity to finish telling their story (to admitedly medocre success).

I am also looking forward to their new show "Eureka" that looks very intreaging, and I hope shines as well as "The Invisible Man" and "The Chronicle" did. Granted they didn't last as long as they should have (both being fun and entertaining shows in my opinion), but they were both allowed something rare in the Network world, the chance for a satisfying conclusion and the wrapping of most major plot threads.

They've made mistakes (Farscape not getting a 5th Season for instance, which I think most fans are still sore about, even after the mini-series), but they have certainly made more positive moves as far as dramatic content goes ... although with their emphesis on Mini-Series, I would expect to see that as an outlet for a new 'Firefly' story, sooner than a 22 episode full season. (don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE to see a new season or three of Firefly)

I won't get into their original half-hour shows which are usually more schlocky (and not so much my taste) considering "Ghost Hunters", "Scare Tactics", and "Tripping the Rift" (the last of which is at least somewhat amusing, while completely offensive ... as opposed to Futurama which is always somewhat offensive, while completely amusing :) )

I'm sure, since this is Slashdot, someone will correct my facts if they think they are blatantly out of line with reality :)

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Anonymous Coward]

I've seen Family Guy and I've seen Futurama (both suck by the way) but I can't say I've ever seen Firefly. Why on earth do you think anyone would want to bring a no-ratings show like that back from the dead? I'd rather see Tru Calling or Reunion be brought back.

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[ciroknight]

You forgot Farscape.

...Odd they all have F at the beginning.. hrmm..

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Deadguy2322]

Yes. F Firefly and Farscape, and their fans. F them up their stupid asses!!!

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Anonymous Coward]

Stargate SG-1 is the new Farscape.

Which is really, really sad for both Stargate and Farscape.

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[jZnat]

First you need to get Adult Swim on Cartoon Network to adopt the show. Then, after a hilarious couple of years running there along with massive DVD sales, I'm pretty sure any show can make a come back if it's funny enough.

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[kalidasa]

The worse the original series, the better the scifi remake, and sadly, vice versa. There was talk of having them redo Manos: The Hands of Fate, but the resulting movie would probably be so good that it would be dangerous to watch.

Ah yes, the SciFi Channel remake of Manos: The Hands of Fate. It's like looking at Ambassador Kolos in Star Trek's "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" - does seeing him drive you insane because he's so ugly, or because he's so beautiful? No one knows, but only a blind woman is safe.

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[B3ryllium]

It would still be alright. Captain Tightpants is the real draw, anyway. ;-)

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Anonymous Coward]

You misspelled "People don't care what I think." Now say it 30 times, then go hang yourself from the ceiling of your mother's basement.

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Jesus_666]

The problem with Firefly is: How would they fit the movie into canon? Wash and Shepherd are dead and I don't think that replacing them or working without them would work well. Going Dallas and declaring the movie a dream would be excessively lame. Having the new series play before the film would make all kinds of problems, as well.

I think that the movie was intended to wrap up Firefly, to finish the thing. It included things that would have happened over the course of several seasons if the series would have continued. A new series would probably suffer from the fact that the big character development can't happen because it happens in the movie.

It's sad, but I do think that Firefly is dead. (BTW, over here in .de, Firefly never came on TV, but there's a German DVD set which I'm currently renting. Just watched Jaynestown.)

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Gilzors]

Well, the problem with that is those two shows clearly were no better.

Re:Two Down, One to Go...

[Scrameustache]

I'm sure, since this is Slashdot, someone will correct my facts if they think they are blatantly out of line with reality :)

Hmmm, ok...

Andromeda had already jumped the shark before Sci-Fi got hold of it (some would argue the same for Sliders)

Your comparison is invalid because of fundamental difference: Sliders started out good ;-)

Sweet!

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, Futurama, I love you more than the moon, the stars, the... POETIC IMAGE #36 NOT FOUND.

Another great service...

[AlphaLop]

Done by Cartoon Network. Im sure the high ratings Futurama reruns get there and on Fox had a lot to do with it.

Re:Another great service...

[vwjeff]

Exactly. Even though I've seen all the episodes I still watch them on Cartoon Network. All hail Zoidberg!!!

Re:Another great service...

[jaredmauch]

I think you mean Hypnotoad

Two Down, One to Go...

[Xeth]

Futurama
Family Guy (Careful what you wish for...)
Firefly

Sweet Zombie Jesus!

[Clazzy]

Who'd have thought pigs would have evolved to grow wings, eh?

Re:Sweet Zombie Jesus!

[linzeal]

Some stations actually take out that quote. It makes me mad.

Hubert J Farnsworth:

[Doggan]

"Good news, everyone!"

Wrong series but...

[bhunachchicken]

Best News Ever

You left out the most important part

[despisethesun]

In fact, forget the cartoon!

Re:You left out the most important part

[KrisW]

In fact, forget the cartoon!

...and the blackjack.

Re:You left out the most important part

[wed128]

...and the hookers

i don't think i get the joke...

Re:You left out the most important part

[Asztal_]

and the zebra waffles snarf snarf -5940324 SEGFAULT core dumped

Re:You left out the most important part

[dangitman]

Ahhh, screw the whole damn thing.

Re:You left out the most important part

[KrisW]

Thank you. I've been waiting for someone to finish the joke.

Re:You left out the most important part

[all204]

...Ah screw the whole thing...

Re:You left out the most important part

[Baloo Ursidae]

Like most of the one-liner posts in this thread, it's all Futurama quotes. Except this one, which is totally unrelated, then turns into an off-topic Family Guy reference explaining it. Que?

Please let it not have jumped the shark

[SamSim]

Pleasepleasepleaseplease!

I wonder...

[shoemael]

which character will become a Scientologist?

Re:I wonder...

[Guppy06]

Bender already flirted with Robotology in one episode, I recall.

You people....

[morganix]

You people disgust me! There is currently a war in Iraq, american rights being taken away daily, a buggy operating system on almost every computer, and starving children in africa. With all this going you call another 16 episodes of a cartoon news? Blah!

/me Makes fun of the war in Iraq, votes for bush, starts up Windows XP, and eats half a sadwich discarding of the rest while watching futurama.

Re:You people....

[Symp0sium]

No we call another 26 episodes news.

Re:You people....

[Guppy06]

Could be worse: we could waste our time trying to diss other people wasting their time with a holier-than-thou attitude that accomplishes nothing.

As for what you're ranking as more important than Futurama, about the only way any of that is going to change is through armed revolution. If you wish to try to start one, be my guest, but your time would probably be better spent buying ammunition and rallying compatriots rather than posting on Slashdot.

Re:You people....

[morganix]

Oh well, I guess it's better than waisting your time trying to inform somone that they are wasting thier time trying to diss other people wasting their time with a holier-than-thou attitude that accomplishes nothing.

Re:You people....

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you miss the last line of what he wrote?

Re:You people....

[ArcherB]

Armed revolution for peace! That's the kind of logic you learn to expect from these people.

(I can say that... I was threatened by a peace protestor!)

Re:You people....

[svip]

I'll go for wasting my time telling you you're wasting your time trying to inform someone that they're wasting their time trying to diss other people wasting their time with a holier-than-thou attitude that accomplishes nothing rank?

Re:You people....

[mqduck]

Jesus... What kinds of idiots rated this flamebait?

being RADICAL

[clydemaxwell]

NBC is in some seriously nigh-propagandist shit.

Old news: this dates to July 2005 (see within)

[Anonymous Coward]

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0471711/

has more.

(The dingo ate ma bay-bee!)

Re:Old news: this dates to July 2005 (see within)

[loserMcloser]

What you have linked to appears to be about a Futurama movie, not more Futurama episodes...

Re:Old news: this dates to July 2005 (see within)

[Izrath]

A return of Futurama has been noted on slashdot before. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/20/175421 1

Re:Old news: this dates to July 2005 (see within)

[linzeal]

I hope both get made.

Re:Old news: this dates to July 2005 (see within)

[bytor4232]

Why is this modded informative? He didn't even read teh article. The date on the post is from two days ago dingus. This is new news.

Where no fan has gone before

[Ice Wewe]

Zap: The court is intregued... Perhaps we could hear more about these forbidden words from someone with a sexily seductive voice.

Camera on Nichelle Nichols

George Takei: With pleasure. You see, the show was banned after the Star Trek Wars.

Zap: You mean the vast migration of Star Wars Fans?

Nichelle Nichols: No, that was the Star Wars Trek.

Re:Where no fan has gone before

[Kenshin]

I always thought it would be amusing in the Futurama universe if a bunch of Star Trek nerds colonised a planet and genetically modified themselves into Klingons.

YAY

[adewolf]

Alright, all nay sayers can bit my shiny ass.. ;)
So what network will be showing this Fox or Adult Swim 9Cartoon Network)?

Alex

Loved the show, not happy about this.

[Don_dumb]

Please dont do this, let it be for gods sake.
Going back to shows (or films series) has never worked, yes I love Futurama, but once something has stopped, dont try necromancy.
TV shows should *never* give the viewer what they want, Star Wars EPI-III anyone? The last two Red Dwarf series (bringing back Rimmer) were horrible. Niles and Daphne getting together was at the point when Frasier turned bad
When will people learn from the example of Seinfeld, Fawlty Towers, the Office (the real one of course)? They all stopped before the viewers had started going.
The moral of the story is -

"Always leave them wanting more."

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[portwojc]

Futurama is different though. The viewers didn't leave. The network did.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[thedletterman]

this will be as great as when they brought Family Guy back! Finally, the network is listening ;)

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[thopkins]

TV shows should give the viewer whatever maximizes profits for the companies involved. This might be sad, but it's true.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[Don_dumb]

The viewers didn't shut down the shows I mentioned in the parent post, I believe that in all cases the writers/stars did.
I do really hope that this will be different, because the last thing I want is for it to come back in a blaze of "not-being-as-good-as-it-was".
Regardless of who pulled the plug, someone did and they should just leave it with everyone remembering it well.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[Don_dumb]

TV shows should give the viewer whatever maximizes profits for the companies involved

Thankyou for your view on art, Mr Murdoch.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[beoswulf]

"Going back to shows (or films series) has never worked, yes I love Futurama, but once something has stopped, dont try necromancy.
TV shows should *never* give the viewer what they want"

Because the newer Family Guy episodes are a total bomb? DS9 wasn't nearly as good (or better IMO) than TNG? Okay, so Enterprise is a car rental agency and nothing more in my book, there is no general Law of Resurrecting Series.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[Andy Gardner]

It seems a little early to be passing judgement, Why not give it a chance and wait till it comes out?

Our policy is: If for any reason you are not completely satisfied, I hate you.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[meringuoid]

Going back to shows (or films series) has never worked, yes I love Futurama, but once something has stopped, dont try necromancy ... Star Wars EPI-III anyone? The last two Red Dwarf series (bringing back Rimmer) were horrible. Niles and Daphne getting together was at the point when Frasier turned bad

You're right that keeping a series going too long is usually a bad idea - to my mind, though, that's a reason to kill off The Simpsons; Futurama still had some life in it.

As for resurrections of old shows: well, Star Trek managed it pretty well, I've been hearing good things about Battlestar Galactica, and the good Doctor is back and making sure that a new generation of small children get thoroughly terrified - this time with special effects that are both special and effective. You don't always get The Phantom Menace.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, that's nice but I want Bonanza back. Or any western actually. Gunsmoke, Palladin, the Rebel, Maverick, doesn't matter.

I'd film it myself except my dogs keep chewing up their Indian feathers I put on their heads and my horse is a lawn mower.

It just ain't the same somehow...

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[Jonboy X]

When will people learn from the example of Seinfeld, Fawlty Towers, the Office (the real one of course)? They all stopped before the viewers had started going.

Point of order: Seinfeld had been circling the drain for a while before they finally gave up the ghost. The last 2 seasons were just far-fetched plotlines and catchphrases.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[gad_zuki!]

Yep. There's this assumption that any production team can break up for a while and then get right back into the groove they had years previous. Usuually that's just wrong. The latest example I can think of is the handful of new Aqua Teen episodes aired on the cartoon network a few months back. Just really unfunny and all that time off did affect the creative process. Or look at the severe decline in quality at the simpsons since real talent like Conan OBrien has left.

Of course this is the last thing fans want to hear. Hopefully, the futurama team will still be able to deliver the funny.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Always leave them wanting more."

- which describes my sex life to a T.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[Kenshin]

More to the point, the network gave it a slow death in a bad, often-interrupted by Purseball, timeslot.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[dangitman]

Family Guy came back after being canceled, and is doing great.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[zippthorne]

Evolution at work my friend. TV stations that don't achieve viewers will eventually go extinct. eventually being replaced by TV stations that do.

1st corollary: TV stations that find a revinue stream that is independant of what people would actually like to watch will stay on the air regardless of content. e.g. PBS.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's called Deadwood and it's on HBO. Along with Battlestar Galactica and The Shield, it's one of the best shows on television.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[jZnat]

I'm guessing that's because all the humour and stories were basically created by only a few people, and they all came back to make more Family Guy together. That, and Adult Swim still gets the new episodes, so it won't really die due to Fox's idiocy.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[mqduck]

What makes all of that bunk is that the creaters WANTED to continue the show. They had a whole bunch of ongoing storyline unfinished. Every one of them complained. The episodes were only getting better and better. Watch the last half of the last season. It's approaching high art.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[Kodiak Claw]

Oh come on, Petey Part II was probably the funniest episode in all of Red Dwarf.

Of course, Ace II was also the best, you may have a point about the bringing back Rimmer thing.

But Futurama was the proof that Groening still had it. I say let him have his chance again. The Simpsons certaintly isn't going to sudenly get good again, and if this can at least be commercially succesful, Groening might get a third show. Hopefully in the time slot The Simpsons has right now.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[gabebear]

Are there really 50 some episodes written by the original writers?? Where did you get this figure? If this is true then I can't see how this could go wrong. I hope they can assemble enough of the original talent to give these new episodes the same feel.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[munpfazy]

Nothing livens up the weekend like a rough and tumble pointless Trek flame war, so here goes.

>DS9 wasn't nearly as good
>(or better IMO) than TNG?

Errr... Yeah. That statement sounds about right to me. DS9 wasn't nearly as good as TNG. And Voyager wasn't nearly as good as DS9. If you ask me, those three series are perhaps the best example of the parent's point one can find. (Enterprise doesn't continue the trend, landing instead at roughly the same level as DS9: competent, but little more.)

Now, if you were to swap TNG -> TOS and DS9 -> TNG, you've got something we can all agree on.

But, in each case we're talking about a whole new crew, new writers, new actors, new budgets, and so on. It's a somewhat different case than bringing a whole team back to continue a series.

In general, it's hard to see a trend. I disagree with the parent post that Red Dwarf declined significantly at the end. On the other hand, Star Trek TOS team sure bombed their resurrected third season.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[bigwang]

Family Guy seems to be doing well on it's return.

Also, if you decided no to watch "The Office(US)" because you didn't think it was
authentic, you should give it a legitimate shot. It's turned into a great show in
its own way. And that it's preceded by another fantasticly well made comedy (My Name Is Earl), makes must-see-tv must-see.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[Anonymous Coward]

God you are stupid.

Re:Loved the show, not happy about this.

[Plebiscite]

Why? Why? Why didn't I break his legs!?

Obsoletely Fabulous

[Ice Wewe]

Fry walks through a 'Soul Detector'. 'Soul Detector' goes off.

Guard: $10 dollars please.

Fry: Aww man.

Lampoon topics

[foniksonik]

Let's hope they have episodes about geeky issues such as:

Bender gets a firmware upgrade that includes DRM which can't be uninstalled without breaking the law... ie: circumventing DRM laws

Fry searches for pRon on Google and gets targeted by the Feds in their anti-granny porn investigation because he searched for porn stars from the year 2000. ... I have more but I'll leave that up to /. to madlib....

Re:Lampoon topics

[fermion]

Fry get seduced into a cult that is at war with a particular lord Zeno. The cult accuses this universally loved and admired, benovelent, democraticaly elected, Prime Minister of hijacking human bodies and causing all pain and misery on earth. It will star Issac Hayes head as lead shokesman for the church. Fry is forced to take the Planet Express Ship on a suicide mission, which only fails becuase he does, in fact, know how to fly the ship. Mr. Hayes is traded to Zeno in an effort to avert intergalactice war, where, through the lords infinite compansion, the Mr. Hayes is allowed to end his years of ridicule and humiliation in peace.

Re:Lampoon topics

[jb.hl.com]

I never thought it possible to suck all the joy out of there being more Futurama, but you just did it. Nice going.

Re:Lampoon topics

[generic-man]

No. I love Futurama but I hated the episodes when the show got all preachy about environmentalism. If the show became a mouthpiece for nerd political activism, I'd never watch it again.

Re:Lampoon topics

[dangitman]

When did Futurama ever get preachy about environmentalism, or any other issue, for that matter?

Re:Lampoon topics

[dangitman]

Bender gets a firmware upgrade that includes DRM which can't be uninstalled without breaking the law... ie: circumventing DRM laws

I think there is a very good reason you are not a TV writer.

Re:Lampoon topics

[linzeal]

I will not point you at the sites but there is literaly 100's of fan fictions for futurama not counting a whole legit comic book series.

Re:Lampoon topics

[jZnat]

Bender gets a firmware upgrade that includes DRM which can't be uninstalled without breaking the law... ie: circumventing DRM laws

They already dealt with that in the third to last episode: S05E14 - Obsoletely Fabulous. Mom corp released new robots to obsolete the old ones, and the old ones had to go get an "upgrade" if they wanted to continue to be used. Go watch it if you haven't in a while.

And yes, it took me about 15 minutes to find the right episode, but I got it!

Re:Lampoon topics

[Anonymous Coward]

It didn't. He's full of crap, and as much culture as a pap smear.

Re:Lampoon topics

[foniksonik]

Hmmm I think I understand. You'd rather sit around the water cooler re-hashing the creative genius of other people's ideas... what? afraid yours would never make the cut to begin with?

Re:Lampoon topics

[foniksonik]

Really? I thought the whole point of smart cartoons was to do what live action shows never can.... point out the absurdity of the real world by lampooning it with over-the-top fictional versions while keeping a few important kernels of truth intact, just to keep you from dismissing the whole thing as foolishness.

Or maybe you think a show about a freakin' delivery service makes for a good sitcom? IF so, go watch King of Queens... maybe more to your liking. Try to find anything smart or interesting on that show and you're going to have an aneurism.

Re:Lampoon topics

[foniksonik]

Just cause you've got no imagination, don't blame it on me.... a plot device is a plot device is a plot device... with good dialogue and snappy slapstick physical humor you can make anything funny... but to make something smart and funny, well you need a good plot device.

I think having a robot automatically update the way Windows does, then find out that he's been installed with an update which has DRM in it that won't allow him to uninstall it without circumventing the DRM (which is illegal), is hilarious... then going on a crazy adventure, which would of course involve a few old friends (Robot Devil comes to mind... ), all to find a patch that would leave him exactly where he was before the update... possibly going all the way to Sweden to talk to a notorious DRM hacker's head, or back in time to use download his original firmware from himself... who knows, it could go anywhere.

There's a lot of people who would relate to the goose chase that is ridding oneself of an unwanted software update and all the craziness involved, just to get back to where you started... it's at least as good as SLURM...

Re:Lampoon topics

[foniksonik]

I thought I'd seen that somewhere... well, there's no such thing as a new idea.... makes the other guy who said he's glad I don't write TV scripts look dumb ;-p

Just wish someone else on /. felt confident enough to share their own plot line wishlists... could be funny.

Re:Lampoon topics

[dangitman]

Sorry, it's maybe an idea for a good one-liner, but hardly the entire basis of the plot. Futurama also typically avolves around broader human themes.

Re:Lampoon topics

[foniksonik]

Funny thing is that it apparently was the basis for the plot of an episode.... I just didn't realize it had already been made ;-p

link to the /.er who knew better

so nyeh!

Re:Lampoon topics

[generic-man]

A Big Piece (Ball?) of Garbage in season 1 (litter from the 20th century will destroy the earth), and Crimes of the Hot (Al Gore wants us all to know that robots are emitting too much greenhouse gas, which will destroy the earth) in season 4. On the DVD commentary tracks, the writers explained that they wanted to spread a positive message about good environmental stewardship.

Re:Lampoon topics

[generic-man]

I like the quantum physics and math jokes and the wiseass robot. I don't get either of those things on NASCAR or Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Re:Lampoon topics

[generic-man]

Also "The Bird-Bot of Ice-Catraz," season 3 (Bender thinks he is a penguin and we all learn a lot about why we must save the penguins).

Re:Lampoon topics

[dangitman]

No, that does NOT deal with DRM at all - it deals with the much broader theme of obsoleteness and upgrades, and ludditism. And Bender does not remove the upgrade or "fight the government" - in the end, the upgrade saves him. If anything, it draws the opposite conclusion to yours.

Re:Lampoon topics

[dangitman]

No, that episode does not deal with DRM, and especially not in the way the other poster wants it to be. In the end, it is the upgrade that saves them. This is about much bigger ideas of obsoleteness, and nature. It really has the opposite message - as Bender never has the upgrade removed, and it is what saves them.

Re:Lampoon topics

[dangitman]

But how is it "preachy"? It's just reflecting the nature of industry. You also mention the Birdbot episode - where they make fun of environmentalists - as well as industry. Again, hardly preachy.

Re:Lampoon topics

[foniksonik]

Oh so obsoleteness of a robot and ludditism is a more riveting topic for a cartoon about a fictional future than DRM and anti-circumvention laws?

anyways, 'nuff said

Re:Lampoon topics

[jb.hl.com]

No, I just think an episode of Futurama based around proselytising about DRM would be about as amusing as stabbing myself in the testicles with a fork.

Re:Lampoon topics

[foniksonik]

No imaginaton.... DRM is funny i tell ya... no different than making jokes about censorship, paying taxes or any of a number of dry topics that have the potential for absurdity.

Juli Saitz on Futurama:

[Anonymous Coward]

While I was watching an episode of Futurama on TV, Juli yelled, "I hate it! It's so fuckin' stupid! When I hear that music--ecchhh! I want to punch you. [in a sarcastic voice] 'I'm Fry...' None of the characters are funny. I would expect more from Matt Groening [the creator of Futurama and The Simpsons]. I can't believe he puts his name on that piece of shit. I'd rather watch a Bugs Bunny marathon [Juli hates Bugs Bunny].The fact that you find it [Futurama] entertaining is mind-boggling to me. I think you should know better."

http://www.negcap.com/NC4/maxi-rant.html

Perl one, html two

[Anonymous Coward]

Perl is just as much a programming language is as html. Dweeb!

You're watching Futurama...

[Osirius]

The show that does not advocate the cool crime of robbery.

This is great news for all us nerdlingers. For those of you who don't know already, here's a look at the backgrounds of some of the writers on the show:

J. Stewart Burns: Graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University in 1992. His senior thesis was on "The Structure of Group Algebras." He received his master's degree in mathematics from UC Berkeley in 1993.

David X. Cohen: Graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1988. He received his master's degree in computer science from UC Berkeley in 1992. He published the following article with Manuel Blum: On the Problem of Sorting Burnt Pancakes. Discrete Appl. Math. 61 (1995), no. 2, 105--120.

Ken Keeler: Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from Harvard University in 1983. In 1990, he received his Ph.D. in applied math from Harvard University. The title of his doctoral thesis was Map Representations and Optimal Encoding for Image Segmentation. He also published the following article with Jeff Westbrook: Short Encodings of Planar Graphs and Maps. Discrete Appl. Math. 58 (1995), no. 3, 239--252.

Bill Odenkirk: Has a PhD in inorganic chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1995.

Jeff Westbrook: Majored in physics and the history of science at Harvard University and he received his Ph.D. in computer science from Princeton University in 1989. The title of his doctoral thesis was Algorithms and Data Structures for Dynamic Graph Algorithms. He was an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Yale University and also worked at AT&T Labs before writing for Futurama. He published the following article with Ken Keeler: Short Encodings of Planar Graphs and Maps. Discrete Appl. Math. 58 (1995), no. 3, 239--252.

And with that the show also has some great voice actors (Billy West, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Dave Herman...), a great 3D department (praised for its ability to blend 3D scenes almost seamlessly into 2D backgrounds), and the show even uses a full orchestra to record its music (composed by Christopher Tyng). And with the huge scope of ideas possible in the SF universe the show is set in, I imagine it'll take a long time yet for this show to burn out.

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[QuantumPion]

stay tuned for more...TALES OF INTEREST

(it turns out it's man)

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[Anonymous Coward]

That explains why it isn't nearly as funny as shows written by actual writers

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[ajamer]

"David X. Cohen: Graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1988. He received his master's degree in computer science from UC Berkeley in 1992. He published the following article with Manuel Blum: On the Problem of Sorting Burnt Pancakes. Discrete Appl. Math. 61 (1995), no. 2, 105--120."

Here is the abstract:

The "pancake problem" is a well-known open combinatorial problem that recently has been shown to have applications to parallel processing. Given a stack of n pancakes in arbitrary order, all of different sizes, the goal is to sort them into the size-ordered configuration having the largest pancake on the bottom and the smallest on top. The allowed sorting operation is a "spatula flip", in which a spatula is inserted beneath any pancake, and all pancakes above the spatula are lifted and replaced in reverse order. The problem is to bound f(n), the minimum number of flips required in the worst case to sort a stack of n pancakes. Equivalently, we seek bounds on the number of prefix reversals necessary to sort a list of n elements. Bounds of 17n/16 and (5n + 5)/3 were shown by Gates and Papadimitriou in 1979. In this paper, we consider a traditional variation of the problem in which the pancakes are two sided (one side is "burnt"), and must be sorted to the size-ordered configuration in which every pancake has its burnt side down. Let g(n) be the number of flips required to sort n "burnt pancakes". We find that 3n/2 less-than-or-equals, slant g(n) less-than-or-equals, slant 2n 2, where the upper bound holds for n gt-or-equal, slanted 10. We consider the conjecture that the most difficult case for sorting n burnt pancakes is In, the configuration having the pancakes in proper size order, but in which each individual pancake is upside down. We present an algorithm for sorting In in 23n/14 + c flips, where c is a small constant, thereby establishing a bound of g(n) less-than-or-equals, slant 23n/14 + c under the conjecture. Furthermore, the longstanding upper bound of f(n) is also improved to 23n/14 + c under the conjecture.

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[pilkul]

That explains why it isn't nearly as funny as shows written by actual writers

What's an "actual writer" supposed to be? You think writers have a degree in writology?

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[pilkul]

Sounds like just a regular paper to me. Lots of math problems have silly names. The guy didn't even make up the name himself.

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[qbwiz]

Exactly. Just like how actual scientists have degrees in scientology.

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[simcop2387]

They should have had at least one with a fungineering degree

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[bitrodya]

I have a degree in writology.

I'm not that funny.

All glory to the hypnotoad!

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[dangitman]

I went to Harvard for this??!!

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[ZOmegaZ]

I don't see you with a degree in fungineering!

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[jZnat]

I was wondering how they managed to make so many subtle jokes that remained factually accurate. "No fair! You changed the outcome by measuring it!"

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[RPoet]

They have degrees in baloney.

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[Anonymous Coward]

That explains why it isn't nearly as funny as shows written by actual writers

Futurama not funny? Wow, you must either be a moron or brain dead... or republican... ;)

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[chivo243]

It was the best of times it was the blurst of times!

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[Anonymous Coward]

That's a Simpsons joke, you stupid monkey!

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[ConceptJunkie]

Writology is good. Not great, but good.

I have a Master's in Writonomy, which is much better.

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[dexter riley]

Bah! I'm a scientist, and it just so happens I have mail-order degrees in both Scientology AND Scientonomy!

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[Anonymous Coward]

Pah! Get back to me when you're a certified scientician!

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[EoinOL]

You think writers have a degree in writology?

Writology and writonomy.

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[Billlagr]

Do mail order degrees in Murderology AND Murderonomy count?

Re:You're watching Futurama...

[chivo243]

yes, but it was a Simpson's initiated pie fight...

You gotta say this.. ..

[Arwing]

Good News, everybody!

Re:You gotta say this.. ..

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but you have to say it an hour earlier to be vaguely relevant.

Re:You gotta say this.. ..

[mqduck]

Good News, everybody!

That's everyone, poser.

My fave quote ...

[Ryokos_boytoy]

"Have you ever tried turning off the tv, sitting down with your children and hitting them?"

Fuck yeah, only downside is that animation takes longer to produce but the good stuff is always worth waiting for.

Re:My fave quote ...

[Slithe]

It depends on the animation. If you are going for uber1337 CG like the (horrible) Final Fantasy movies, you will probably work for several months on each episode (and you will run out of money two episodes in). If your animation is easy to do, like South Park, you can have very quick production times. For instance, the Season Six Finale of South Park parodied Saddam Hussein's capture while he was hiding in a spider hole, even though it had only been three days since he was captured.

Capitalism at its finest....

[Berserker76]

Regardless of the quality of the product, if they think they can make money, they will try.

I for one believe the quality of this product is top notch and am glad to see it coming back. I welcome back our sardine craving, can get no loving, lobster overlord.

Re:Capitalism at its finest....

[mqduck]

Regardless of the quality of the product, if they think they can make money, they will try.

Isn't caring more about what they thought would make them more money than making great content what killed the show in the first place? Anybody who says capitalism and art are friends is insane. Obvious example: RIAA.

Re:Capitalism at its finest....

[ClamIAm]

Capitalism at its finest? Not really. All this has done is show the large, oppresive media cartels that they have another viable way of avoiding risks. Shows that weren't blockbusters get exiled to cable syndication for a few years, and if they get deemed successful, the same people who axed the show before bring it back and look like the good guys.

Family Guy, American Dad, Futurama

[minus_273]

Anyone else get the feeling that FOX suits finally realized the Simpsons are starting to show their age. I say the best possible outcome from this would if that show is finally allowed to rest in peace and we can all enjoy the great episodes in reruns/DVD instead of having to see it dragged on for yet another season against the wishes of the creators.

Re:Family Guy, American Dad, Futurama

[linzeal]

Two mostly different fanbases, methinks. Simpsons is more family friendly than futurama, a single futurama episode has more geek cred than a dozen Frink episodes.

Television?

[supabeast!]

Does anyone else spot a little bit of irony in a show titled "Futurama" being shown on network television before moving on to non-obsolete formats?

Re:Television?

[dangitman]

Bender: Hey! Get a load of this pathetic 20th century TV!

Fry: What's wrong with it?

Bender: Well, aside from causing eye cancer, these things had a lousy low-definition picture.

Amy: That's true. On a TV like this I bet you couldn't even make out my obscene tattoo.

Leela: That's cute!

Corroboration Please!

[Anonymous Coward]

I think I'm speaking for everyone here...

One could cut the tension with a knife.

Another quote...

[winphreak]

X-Fry: But this is HDTV. It's got better resolution than the real world.

Italy speaks

[continuouslife]

The cruel meatball of war has rolled onto our laps and ruined our white pants of peace!

Dear Matt Groening,

[cornface]

Please stop.

Two Words....

[wideBlueSkies]

...to describe why bringing back Futurama is likely to work out well:

Family Guy

wbs.

Never underestimate the power of the Hypnotoad!!!

[Beebos]

All Hail the Hypnotoad!!!!

Futurama Returns

[Mr zoidburg]

wow.it been 9 years and their back now CAN NOT FIND SYSTEM FILE Windows/login/system32/hal.dll.

Memo to FOX:

[Anonymous Coward]

Just keep it out of the 7pm Sunday death slot this time, you fuckers.

It's hard for a show to get/stay popular when the first 20 minutes of nearly every episode for a four-month period is pre-empted by some fucking NFL game that ran long.

Finally...

[kahrytan]

I am soooooo glad that Futurama returns for a season. Maybe Fox will air the last remaining episodes from the previous season. We can all thank Adultswim for this return. Fox Execs probaly used Adultswim's ratings for Futurama to make a decision on it's return or not.

FYI: The Simpsons are moving onto a movie in couple years.

Re:Finally...

[NFNNMIDATA]

It also runs on TBS along with Family Guy, but I doubt it was the cable ratings, I'm sure it was (like Family Guy) the DVD sales. That caused them to say "lets make more DVDs", which Family Guy did successfully, and 4 Futurama DVD movies were scheduled. But now that Family Guy is alive again on FOX they probably said "you know what, we get new DVDs to sell either way, and FG is doing all right, lets just bring Futurama back and stick it in some out-of-the-way time slot, nothing to lose". And thus I predict that the show will get screwed by FOX again....

Will Fry and Leela finally get together?

[tmk]

The awful last episode showed that Leela and Fry finally got together - in some way. Would it be good if the story goes further on? Could it work? Can they be a happy couple like A.J. and Miranda?

Re:Will Fry and Leela finally get together?

[talksinmaths]

The awful last episode...

One can only hope that you're not serious about that. Instead I'll choose to believe that you are setting up the first quarter of some sort of ridiculously circuitous joke. Be forewarned however that you'll get no credit if we fail to see the irony.

Re:Will Fry and Leela finally get together?

[tmk]

In the fifth series were IMHO the best and the worst episodes of Futurama.

I liked these four best:

The Sting
The Why Of Fry
The Farnsworth Parabox
Three Hundred Big Boys

Re:Will Fry and Leela finally get together?

[dangitman]

What, you mean "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings"? Surely, you kid.

Robot Devil: That episode is as lousy as it is brilliant!

Re:Will Fry and Leela finally get together?

[Anonymous Coward]

Can they be a happy couple?

Would that be funny?

No.

Re:Will Fry and Leela finally get together?

[popra]

Shut up sqare!

Re:Will Fry and Leela finally get together?

[Faw]

I don't know but the one about Fry's dog is the saddest and most depressing cartoon I have ever seen.

Billy West

[talksinmaths]

This is great news, and certainly cause for Futurama fans to rejoice. All the same I'd be just as exited if were to turn out to be true that Billy was going to reprise his role as the Jackie Puppet. I swear every time that freakin' puppet opened it's mouth I'd end up laughing so hard that my stomach hurt and my eyes watered.

Also, it is just me or is there something not funny about a Futurama thread that consists mainly of Futurama quotes? Oh well, I guess we can at least look forward to the next phase of the Scientology wars, Scientology vs. Robotology. ;)

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And they all start with F and from FOX. :)

[antdude]

Hmmm! What's up with these F's? ;)

Re:And they all start with F and from FOX. :)

[Kenshin]

It's an F'ing shame, that's what it is!

May seem obvious, but...

[SilentChris]

I think this is an excellent example of how powerful the masses have become in affecting entertainment, and to a greater degree corporations in general.

Medieval times: jester makes everyone laugh but the king. King has jester beheaded.

Modern times: show makes everyone laugh but company has show cancelled. Show does astromical DVD figures and comes back.

It's a testament to the power of the masses' will. The almighty buck is powerful, but the almighty buck plus thousands of people writing Fox to call them idiots is even more powerful.

P.s. Don't stop calling Fox idiots.

Re:May seem obvious, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

Fox canned Arrested Development, too (for anyone whose seen the last episode).

I like the way the guys chose to end it though.

They want to beat Gunsmoke...

[MsGeek]

...which means 20 consecutive seasons on network TV.

Goddess help us all. That's 15 more seasons than they should have ran. The Simpsons jumped the shark after S5.

Re:They want to beat Gunsmoke...

[Anonymous Coward]

Given the relative weakness of seasons 1 and 2 (which IMHO are even worse than current episodes), I'd say The Simpsons jumped after 5 good seasons, so around season 7.

Re:They want to beat Gunsmoke...

[NFNNMIDATA]

Agreed, and its not even the same show anymore by season 9. As far as I can tell "The Simpsons" has been off the air since the 90's.

Great

[Anonymous Coward]

Just when my roommate disconnected cable. Grrrrr. Him and his newfound interest in this 'internet' thing. And when he discovers porn, he will never look back. Big frickin L on the forehead...

CSI is popular because

[Matarick]

it's like Scooby Doo but Mystery Inc works for the man and the dectectives are the old people who unmasks the kids.

Re:CSI is popular because

[dangitman]

Nah, it's popular because of fear. people like the excitement of feeling there are evil people doing evil things to innocent, attractive victims - but they also want to be reassured that the police are all-knowing experts, who will painstakingly track every strand of hair and every drop of blood. It's fantasy about the competence of law enforcement. In reality, the police are nowhere near that effective.

Welcome to the 21st Century - where the government doesn't need to push propaganda on you, because people will happily pay money for it.

Re:CSI is popular because

[Anonymous Coward]

It has nothing to do with the police not being that effective. It's that their science is all bullshit on that show. Virtually none of the stuff they do is anywhere near possible. Sort of like the "enhance" button they've got for infinite resolution on grainy security cameras.

Re:CSI is popular because

[dangitman]

That was exactly my point. It makes people believe the police can do things they can't. And of course it has to do with fear. If it didn't, they wouldn't have any emotional appeal to ordinary TV viewers.

Re:CSI is popular because

[Matarick]

Hense the sarcasm in the parent, from what I've seen of CSI.

If you remember any episode in Scooby Doo, the adult world cannot figure out what is going on so with the terrible crimes, so Mystery Inc does it's thing. Velma gathers the clues and the villian, normally an old white male, gets caught by the accidental meanderings of Norville and Scooby. The message is simular, the fantasy of kids doing the right thing, the adult world is ineffective, and anybody over 30 is out to get you.

Reverse the roles and you get the CSI series. Where the man is always looking out for your interests, the old white male is the hero, and takes down of those meddling kids.

Let me be the first to say...

[Anonymous Coward]

Awesome, Awesome to the Max.

You aren't the only one

[Rooked_One]

I'm frankly very sick of the simpsons... I keep tuning in, but its just not doing it for me. Personally, I think Seth McFarlen is putting in subliminal messages telling us to hate the simpsons - or it could be as simple as stewie hitting the reporter over the head, when asked about futurama returning - or maybe thats just becuase he was from one of those awful news channels.

Either way, you aren't the only one whom the simpsons have just grown out of style. But, on a positive note, it is worth thinking about that if Groening puts his time into futurama then simpsons just might die off. Of course it will have to go out with a bang, but that needs to happen before it goes out with a fizzle. *insert famous fizzle joke here*

Re:You aren't the only one

[linzeal]

It was making fun of the fact that those entertainment shows often ask celebrities crazy questions like about other celebs like they are part of a coven, cult or commune or something.

Re:You aren't the only one

[Corbu Mulak]

No, actually it was because the reporter was from Entertainment Weekly and they had previously said that Family Guy was one of the top ten shows ever made.

Billy West said that!?!?!

[sharkey]

Happy-happy!
Joy-joy!
Happy-happy!
Joy-joy!

Re:Billy West said that!?!?!

[CCFreak2K]

Futurama, not Ren & Stimpy. ;)

Re:Billy West said that!?!?!

[ProfFalcon]

Hello, boys and girls. This is your old pal, Stinky Wizzleteats. This is a song about a whale. No! This is a song about being happy! That's right! It's the Happy Happy Joy Joy song!

20% overrated

[Anonymous Coward]

To someone marking all the messages overrated: If you don't know Futurama, get the fuck out. PSA over.

26 episodes?

[payndz]

26 new episodes of Futurama? Woo! Fox'll be able to stretch those out for another five years!

Tickle it and get ready for the ride of your lives

[jchap]

BEND me!

Your Neutralness...

[OK PC]

I have no strong feelings one way or the other

Re:Never underestimate the power of the Hypnotoad!

[linzeal]

Destroy the fucking toads they are killing the crocs!

Next... the Bundys!

[Anonymous Coward]

God I miss that show. I don't think one girl in that show wore a bra. TV sure was great back then.

Yeah!

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't wait to download the ISO! ;-)

All GLORY to the Hypnotoad!

[Anonymous Coward]

Everybody Loves Hypnotoad! Though, it HAS been going downhill since the third season...

Can't wait!

[hantuvii]

Yee haw! Good news first thing in the morning!

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I was waiting for that.

[Grendel Drago]

I'm surprised it took this long down the thread for someone to mention Firefly. Now I want to cry into some beer while re-watching "Out of Gas".

I'm hoping...

[solitas]

I'm desperately hoping that they bring back all the writers and cast, and that they DON'T CHANGE A THING! The only thing WRONG with the show, so far, was that it ENDED.

Billy Was In Error

[QAPete]

Billy just posted that he was in error..... false alarm. (sigh...)

Uhh...

[Belial6]

You do realize that using the term 'jump the shark' is jumping the shark.....

Hammering out the details?

[Jerim]

Sounds to me that it is not a "done" deal. Still room for someone to pull out of the deal. I wouldn't get my hopes up just yet. Plus, I don't see Fox brining the show back, they already have 16 hours of animated programming, or something like that. Wonder if it will be the Cartoon Network.

Good news everyone!

[kimvette]

Is it me, or is Fox just plain out of touch?

They cancelled Family Guy (I was GLAD when they cancelled it because the musical timeslot game they were playing with the show was worse than not having it) and Futurama only for Adult Swim to syndicate them and earn consistently phenomenal ratings at a poor timeslot - a cable station no less, where poor ratings are expected at ANY timeslot. When the DVDs came out, DVD sales went through the roof almost immediately, and every time Groening and Cohen put out a new compilation of episodes, it charts. Even worse, Futurama won multiple emmies, earned a lot of critical acclaim, the demand is obviously there and many catch phrases from the show have caught on in American culture (Good news, everyone! Bite my shiny metal ass! etc.) which is unexpected given the more academic nature of Futurama's humor. Sure, there is some LCD fart humor in the show, but the vast amount of it is more math, science, and technology oriented. I've told my mom about the show, and she's told me she watches it from time to time (she loves Bender's antics).

Look at Arrested Development - similar situation. It earned what, SIX emmies, and despite receiving NO promotion from FOX and the musical timeslot having been played with the show, it STILL garnered six million viewers week to week during the first two seasons, and when initial news of the cancellation (er, sorry, "cut order" in Fox nomanclature) it STILL managed to attract 3.7mil to 4.0mil viewers per week, and you had to search for the show for this last season. DVD sales through the roof, an uproar throughout the press over Fox's treatment of the show, and they still won't hear of continuing it. You have two competing networks who have put in bids for the show, and right now it's in Mitch Hurwitz's lap as to whether or not the show goes on (I've read he's worn out due to the emotional roller coaster he went through at Fox, and I can't blame him if he doesn't accept Showtime's or ABC's offer). What essentially replaced it was "War at Home" which is a show which earns critical scorn, poor ratings, and much mocking on the web. Heck, I didn't even KNOW about Arrested Development until late summer; I set my VCR to tape The Simpsons and Family Guy (yes, I use tape, my ATI AiW cards don't cooperate with Linux) and fast forward through the commercials. I never knew about Arrested Development until a friend told me about it, so I read some reviews, and the one weak promotional attempt of a marathon that Fox ran (in other words, they had no new "reality" show episodes in the can, so they looked for something to fill airtime) happened to be coming up so I watched it; I was hooked. When the announcement came that they were cancelling the show (er, cutting the order short) I'd love to say I was shocked, but I wasn't. After what happened to Titus, Family Guy, and Futurama, it could very easily have been predicted.

If it's a quality show and not The Simpsons, Fox will not give the show the respect it deserves. They have a very, very long track record of that dating all the way back to 1990, when they enjoyed their initial taste of success from Married With Children, the Tracy Ullman Show, and The Simpsons.

My theory about Fox: I think what happens is folks involved in program scheduling at FOX play politics when it comes to their pet projects, and when their projects lose to competing bids, they seek to sabotage the shows that win over their projects by either putting them in timeslots they KNOW will be preempted (e.g., Futurama's 7:00 Sunday slot which is consistently overrun by Football games, Baseball games, and even Basketball playoffs). If the show does manage to earn some success, they take it a step further and move the show around week to week, in a fervent attempt to completely destroy the ratings.

The wake these shows leave behind, including harsh articles from critics lambastimg them over idiotic cancellations, a tremendous number of well-done fan web sites, and high DVD sales ratings, and yet all the while the

I prefer Futurama to Simpsons

[mclaincausey]

I know I'm in the minority here (though perhaps less-so on /.), but I actually prefer the sardonic, nerdy wit of Futurama to even early episodes of the Simpsons.

Re:I prefer Futurama to Simpsons

[colonslashslash]

You're definately not on your own there man.

Futurama is a big favourite here, as well as with quite a few of my friends and co-workers. Don't get me wrong, The Simpsons is a superb show, and despite alot of the bashing it recieves lately, it still remains so. But in my book it has nothing on Futurama. I guess it's the more 'geeky' humour that appeals to me, as well as the style of the characters and the environment for which the show is set.

Anyway, good news everybody all round. Let's hope this is the start of a decent rebirth for the show, rather than just a one-off.

If they keep Matt Groenig(sp)'s head in a jar

[CrazyJim1]

Then they can make episodes for the next 1000 years. I'll find a way to travel back in time to the year 2000, and get cryogenically frozen for 1000 years. When I wake up, I can watch 1000 years of Futurama episodes for a full year. That'd be the best year of my life.

Re:If they keep Matt Groenig(sp)'s head in a jar

[Anonymous Coward]

uhhh, why would you need to travel back in time to the year 2000?

Sensational!

[Anonymous Coward]

Hooray for lack of fact-finding!

http://billywest.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=202 0&PN=1

Re:Sensational!

[wpanderson]

Bah, beat me to it, puny Anonymous Coward! Morbo is glad he read threads in entirety first! Aaaargh!

Page 3

[PPCAvenger]

Billy West has indicated that he may have been wrong on page three of the linked forum thread.

  He says something is going on with Futurama but it may be DVD related.

What's with the phrase "straight to DVD"?

[Tatsh]

Yes, it's very straightforward but still it sounds retarded if you ask me. "not just DVD" would've worked just as well in the last sentence. I've read "straight to DVD" in several places but I guess now it's becoming a household phrase. I certainly won't use it. It sounds retarded.

Oh how I wish it were actually true

[nonother]

Seems even Billy himself was incorrect and he apologizes, but damn I'm disappointed.

http://www.billywest.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID =2020

"Is it me, or is Fox just plain out of touch?"

[EoN604]

Wait... are you implying that FOX EVER had a clue??? On a scale of 1 to garbage, with 1 being the lowest and garbage being a scale, FOX is a 12. At LEAST.

When it's duped...

[artificialj]

tomorrow, I'm sure that will be the title. Just you wait.

more?!

[pedrotabrar]

I thought it had died a long over due death a long time ago.

That's very interesting

[ari_j]

Interesting...no, wait. That other thing - tedious.

Oh noes! Debunked.

[Squideye]

http://www.billywest.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID =2018 -- Billy gets more info from David X. Cohen which is cause for us to hedge our optimism.

I am sad and sorry, guys.

As Dr Zoidberg would say....

[Sidane]

"woob-woob-woob-woob-woob-woob!!"

Another of foxes horrible, horrible mistakes

[Timberwolf0122]

reversed! Now if we can get FireFly back I will be happy.

26 Episodes now all I need is sufficent snacks.. hmmm this is a M-Class planet so there should aleast be some roddenberries.



appologies for spelling and length, although the ladies love it.

Or maybe not

[JDHannan]

From Billy West's Forum:

I'm getting different bits of info that say this news may not be the case.There IS something up Futurama project wise but but it might be the DVD's still.It's hard to keep up with things--but I'll try to do better.

Check your headers

[tod_miller]

I think everyone knows about this, but look at the http headers slashdot returns.

Doesn't look like it is going to happen...

[Octatonic]

http://billywest.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=202 0&PN=1/

Confirmed false, unfortunately.

[Anonymous Coward]

See Got Futurama?.

Bad News Everyone...

[killproc]

If you read further into the comments, B. W. recants:

"rb2006---
I'm getting different bits of info that say this news may not be the case.There IS something up Futurama project wise but but it might be the DVD's still.It's hard to keep up with things--but I'll try to do better.
Sorry, Billy"

different POVs

[dj_virto]

Meanwhile, arab and iraqi partisans think the only station that comes close to being accurate is Al-Jazeera. Who is right? I do believe there is an objective truth, but people with strong emotions and personal stakes on any side are not likely to see what it is at least until many years after the events.

We should be proud that our culture is willing to self criticize, that at least a portion of our population is willing to promote something other than their own self interest. Self criticism and guilt are a sign of strength, so long as the information that is found out is used productively (the hard part). Cultures who don't (on average) self criticize and who get an out from criticism from others are actually pretty weak and unevoliving- rappers for instance.